Automatic burner



April 9, 1935.

F. A. WEGENER 1,997,281

AUTOMATIC BURNER Filed Dec. 18, 1930 Patented Apr. 9, 1935 UNITED. STATES Auromrro BURNER Francis A. Wegener, GloucestenN. Ja, assign to Welsbach Company, Gloucester City, N. 1., a

corporation of- New Jersey Application December is, iszaseriai no. 503,178

4 Claims. (01. 158 11'l.1)

The present invention relates broadly to the art of liquid and gaseous fuel burners, and more particularly to an improved burnerof the thermostatic type having a heat responsive valve associated therewith.

It is customary in the art .to which the present invention relates to provide burners oi the type adapted for use with a thermostatic valve by means of which the quantity, of fluid passed by 10 the valve to the burner is automatically regulated in accordance with temperature conditions. Such valves, while satisfactorily serving to control 'the temperature of the medium being heated, are open'to certain objections. Such a system, for 15 example, being responsiveto temperature conditions only, is not capable of making any correction for variation in pressure conditionsoi' the combustible ingredient. It not infrequently happens, therefore, that an increase in gas pressure, for example, with. the valve wide open or substantially wide open, will result in extinguishing the flame unless the burner is of special construction capable of operating under'widely difierent conditions of pressure.-

It is one of the objects of the present invention j ditions oi! the medium being controlled. Thus in the case of ahot water heater, for example, I the standard thermostatic valve will be responsive only to the temperature of the water. The combined thermostatic valve and burner structure, however, will be responsive only to burner temperature. Thus in case of fiameextinguishment with the water belowthe desired temperature, in which case the standard thermostatic valve would permit the flow of gas to the combined valve and burner structure, such structure will itself becoineeiiective for shutting off the flow of gas and thereby prevent continued escape with possibility of an explosion.

Other advantages of the invention will appear as the same becomes better understood by ref-- erence to the accompanying specification and drawing forming a part thereof, andLin which 66 Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view through to provide a combined thermostatic valve and.

a valve constructed in accordance with the pres ent inventions v Figure 2 isa view similar'to Figurel, but taken at right angles thereto;

Figure 3 is-an end elevational view, on smaller 5 scale, of the valve structure of Flgures'l and 2; and Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view, onan enlarged scale, along the line IV-IV oH igure 2.

In carrying out the present invention there is provided a valve casing 2 having an inlet opening ,3 and an outlet opening 4. Intermediate these openings is a seat 5 with which cooperates a controlling member in the form of a valve i. I The valve is normally urged in one direction by a spring 1 and is guided during its operating movements by a guide pin 8.

Cooperating with, the outlet opening '4' is a closure 9 from which projects a burner tube II. This tube is provided with a suitably shaped opening or openings ll, herein illustrated as of circular contour, and constituting the burner orifices.

Carried by the free end of the tube III is a" plug I'Zwithin which is threaded an adjusting screw 14 adapted to beheld in adjusted relationship by. means or a lock nut ll. Abutting a ainst the inner end of the screw is a valve operating rod I6, one end oi which cooperates with a pressure disk I! within a detachable housing I! carriedby the valve 6. Within this housing is a-spring llwhich-is normally eiiective for maintaining the disk "in the position illustrated in the drawing and suiiiciently stifler than the spring 1 so that pressure transmitted to the disk I1 will be efiective in opposition to such spring ii for closing the valve.

"The tube It constituting the burner tube, is preferably constructed of metal havinga relatively high coeiiicient of expansion, and con- 40 stitutes the relatively ei zpansile member .0! the heat responsive member for actuating the valve. The rod ii on the contrary is preferably constructed of material either having a negligible or relatively low coefficient of expansion, where- 4 I by the diil'erence between changes in the lengths r of the tube and rod may beutilized tor operat ing the valve as well understood in the art.

Since the tube ll not only constitutes a-heat responsive mechanism, .but also a burner tube. it is preferably constructed with respect to the. dual function which it performs. I have found that aluminum ishighly desirable iorthis purpose since itnot only fiuickly responds, dimensionally, to temperature changes, but'since orifices formed therein remain relatively free from deposit and thereby effectively serve their intended functions.

Carried byone side of the casing 2 is an ex- 5 tension 20 internally threaded to receive a valve seat forming member 2|. This valve seat forming member is conveniently in the form of an externally threaded tube shaped to receive therein a plunger valve, the stem 22 of which projects through thew-body of the tube, and the valve portion 23 of which cooperates with the lower end thereof. Threaded onto the upper end of the stem 22 is a button 24 adapted to be engaged when the cap 25 is removed for unseating the valve. When unseated, the fluid being controlled may pass from the inlet side of the valve through a passageway '26 and port 21 into the interior of the tube 2| and thence past the valve 23 into the burner tube It. This construction therefore provides means for by-passing ,the valve 6 at the pleasure of the operator for reasons which will'hereinafter be, more fully understood.

In using an automatic burner of the character described, the, operator desiring to place the burner in operation, removes the cap 25 and unseats the valve 23. This delivers such a quantity of gas to the bumer tube ill as to permit the same to be lighted. The flame burning adjacent the tube l0 quickly heats the same and produces appreciable expansion thereof. This expansion permits the rod i6 to travel to the right as viewed in Figures 1 and 2 under the influence'of the spring 1, whereby the valve 6 is unseated. At this time gas will flow directly from the inlet 3 to the outlet 4 and thence to the tube. Ill, whereupon the valve23 may be released, and thecap 25 re-applied.

If for any reason the pressure of the gas from its seat, the flame will be blown away from the tube Iii in such manner that the tube will tend to cool, this-cooling resulting in contraction of the'tube and consequent partial clasing of the valve 6.. This closing movement will continue until the gas pressure is restricted to such a point that the flames return to the desired position adjacent the tube. The tube l0 thus constitutes means for automatically regulating the quantity of combustible fluid passed in accordance with the pressure under which such fluid is delivered. In this manner there is incorporated an automatic safety feature such that flame extinguishment by reason of pressure variations is prevented.

Should the gas be shut off for any reason, the flames will be extinguished, thereby permitting the tube ID to contract and close the valve 6. In this manner the continued escape of gas in the event the pressure is re-established, is prevented, it being necessary for operator to manually operate the by-pass valve ai'gii'light the burner before the flow of gas throrig'h the valve itself is permitted. Since the starting valve immediately. tends to seat itself, through the medium of the spring surrounding the valve stem 22, the escape of any gas when the burner is extinguished, is prevented. The same operation is. 9bt ained, as before referred to, in case of extinguishment of the flame from any cause whatever, regardless of the position of the standard thermostatic valve. Thus with such a standard valve wide open, by reason of low temperature conditions'in themedium being controlled, if ,the flame is extinguished at the should unduly increase with the valve 6 away burner, the combined structure will be effective for closing the valvei and preventing gas from escaping. It is thus apparent that the structure disclosed constitutes a safety feature combined with a burner, whereby there is obtained a safe operation of a character not possible with a standard burner in combination with a ther mostatic valve of the usual type which is not responsive in any way to flame temperature, but only to temperature-conditions in the medium which the flame is intended to heat.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that I have provided a combined burner and thermostat in which the relatively expansible member of the heat responsive mechanism serves not only in the capacity indicated, but also in the capacity of a burner tube. This makes it possible to incorporate in a single structure both a heat responsive mechanism and a burner structure. To those skilled in the art, it will be apparent that a burner of the character described produces, with ordinary illuminating gas, a yellow flame, and therefore one having a wide range of capacity but in which excessive pressure with any setting of the controlling valve is precluded from extinguishing the flame itself.

While I have herein illustrated and described the preferred embodiment of the invention, it

will be understood that changes in the construction and operation of the parts may be made without departing either from the spirit of the present invention or,the scope of my broader claims.

I claim:

1. A burner device of the class described comprising a valve casing having a port therethrough, a valve disk seating over'the port, a spring for urging the disk awayfrom the port. a burner tube opening into the valve casing and receiving fuel therefrom under the control of said valve disc, said tube being alinedwith said disc and provided with at least one opening effective for projecting a flame at avariable distance from the tube inaccordance with the pressure in the tube, a rod within the burner tube and cooperating therewith to constitute a thermostat, an adjustable contact for said rod in the free end of the burner, tube, said valve having an effective port whose diameter is substantially larger than the inner diameter of said burner tube, and a cushion at the opposite end 'of the rod on the valvedisk through which movement of the rod is transmitted to the valve disk.

2.The combination with a valve, of a burner supplied thereby and effective for controlling the position of said valve, said burner including a tube susceptible to dimensional changes upon different temperatures and provided with at least one burner opening, and a rod mounted in said tube and cooperating therewith to function as a thermostat and push said valve toward closed position with one of its ends upon cooling of said tube, said valve having a seat whose diameter is substantially larger'than the inner diameter of said tube.

3. The combination with a valve, of a burner with one of its ends. saidvalve having an elective opening whose diameter is substantially larger than the inner diameter 0L said tube.

4; In combination, a valve casing having an inlet opening, an outlet opening and a valve seat functionally interposed between said openings,

a disc valve cooperating with said seat to control flow between said openings. means for bypassing *said valve at the will of the operator, and a burner supplied both by said valve and said lay-pass, said burner being eiiective for controlling the position of said valve in both to temperature and pressure variations. said ,burner comprising a burner tube and means within said tube acflns in oooperation'with said tube for actuating said valve to close the same upon occurrence of excessive pressure and/or cooling of the burner tube, the diameter oi said valve seat being substantially larger than the inner diameter 01' said tube and said tube being provided with at least one burner opening effective for projecting a flame at avariable distancefrom the tube in accordance with the pressure in the i IRANCIB A. WEGENER. 

